


Day 309

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [309]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27408307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [309]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 2





	Day 309

Varric drank his fifth cup of tea of the day and noted down another amendment to the contract he and Lady Elegant had drafted two days before. None of it was surprising, they had put some stipulations in to be obviously unreasonable to distract from the clauses that were only subtly unreasonable. The merchant’s guild would come out very well from this deal, Varric especially. As would the people of Kirkwall... hopefully.

“You’re taking this uncharacteristically seriously,” Lady Elegant remarked, dabbing her quill into the inkwell. She was still on her second cup of tea but seemed none the less awake. She thrived on shit like this and it was, to some degree, annoying.

“I always take business seriously,” Varric said. Lady Elegant let out a very inelegant laugh at that.

“Only when it helps other people,” she said. “I see through you Mr. Tethras, you’re a much better person than you claim to be. One of the best I’ve ever met.”

“Maker, I hope that’s not true,” Varric said.

“I think it is?” Lady Elegant said. Her smile was probably meant to be reassuring but Varric just felt the weight of expectation on his shoulders.

He thought about Bartrand, how much he had wanted to kill the bastard after they escaped from the Deep Roads. How many people had been killed by his madness? Carver and most of the other members of the expedition, all Bartrand’s servants, the guards Varric and Hawke had killed at Bartrand’s estate. All because of the idol Varric had given to his brother. He hadn't known what would happen, how could he have? But without him, Hawke wouldn’t have been on that expedition, maybe they wouldn’t even have made it to the taig. Maybe they both would still have living brothers.

Varric also thought about Isabella. How many times had he accepted her flirtatious evasions when someone had asked about the relec she was looking for? He had watched her run after the damn thing when she had finally found it and Varric had let her go expecting her to come back. Knowing one of his friends had been the reason for the Qunari attack had almost broken Hawke and that was the worst part for Varric. He was supposed to know everything about everyone. Information was his business and he had failed his friend when it mattered most. Varric would never know if he could have stopped the Qunari attack but he would always know he hadn’t done everything he could.

Finally he thought about Anders. He was becoming more reclusive, more filled with anger and despair. Varric didn’t know much about mages but he knew that was especially bad for them. If he couldn’t pull Anders out of that soon, he didn’t know what the man was capable of. What he feared most was what it would do to Hawke to have yet another friend betray him. Varric didn’t know what he could do for Anders or how long he had, and that terrified him.

“If I’m one of the best people in Kirkwall,” Varric said, “the city is well and truly doomed.”

But Varric didn’t believe that. He believed in people like Jansen and Wanda who had escaped poverty and dedicated their lives to helping others do the same. He believed in Greta, who loved to draw but loved making shoes for the street kids more. He believes in Sunna who, despite losing both her parents, had not lost her curiosity and was slowly finding her hope again.

Most of all, Varric believed in Hawke who had lost nearly everything. Who had had his trust betrayed time and time again. Who was a mage in a city full of templars yet refused to abandon the people to their fate. Who was going to save the city or die trying. Varric could not hope to live up to Hawke, he didn’t know if anyone could, but he could do this. He could get the reconstruction going in earnest and take some of that pressure off Hawke so he didn’t feel he needed to do everything. He pointed to a note Lady Elegant had made on the contract.

“The Merchant’s Guild will want to impose a ‘temporary membership’ fee on any independent merchants operating in an area we’re managing. That will include the market hit by the demons which will need to be part of the deal if it will ever get back to working order.”

“They already have to pay a tax to the city upon entry,” Elegant said. “If there are additional fees in certain areas, we’ll never get trade back.”

“If we combine the membership fees with the entry tax-” Varric started.

“We’ll never be able to track who’s going where,” Elegant interjected. “If we try, everyone will just lie. If we raise taxes across the boars the merchants will avoid Kirkwall more than they already do.”

Varric called for a sixth cup of tea. His long day was going to turn into a long night. Part of him wished he could be doing anything else right now but he owed to the people he had already failed not to give up now.


End file.
